Drainage and other trenches are employed in a variety of applications to collect and drain water and other fluids from roadways, runways, parking lots or other surfaces. As known to those skilled in the art, a trench can be formed by a drainage channel which generally includes a longitudinally extending bottom wall and first and second longitudinally extending sidewalls which extend upwardly from opposed edges of the bottom wall to thereby define the upwardly opening longitudinal trench. In order to prevent objects from becoming lodged in the trench which may block or otherwise impede the fluid drainage and to prevent people from inadvertently stepping into the trench, drainage channels also generally include a grate covering the open top of the trench and extending between upper portions of the opposed sidewalls.
Once installed, a variety of forces and loads are applied to the drainage channel and, more particularly, to the grate. For example, passing vehicles can roll across the grate, thereby subjecting the drainage channel to the repeated application of a variety of compressive forces. In order to stabilize the grate and to prevent the grate from rocking or from becoming displaced when weight, such as a passing vehicle, is applied thereto, various methods have been developed to attach or secure the grate to the drainage channel.
For example, European Patent No. 112 287 discloses a fixture for bolting a grate to a drainage channel. As described, the opposed sidewalls of the drainage channel each define a respective indention. The indentions are adapted to engage a locking bar which, in turn, is connected to the grate via a threaded bolt. By turning the bolt in a generally clockwise manner, the associated locking bar can be threadably advanced until the bar reaches a stop defined by the indention. By this process, the bar is fastened and braced against the stop, thereby attaching the grate to the drainage channel.
While this method of attaching a grate to a drainage channel is generally reliable, each fixture requires precise alignment of the grate attaching fixture with the indentions defined by the opposed sidewalls. The alignment step is further complicated because the grate extends laterally between upper portions of the opposed sidewalls of the channel, with the result that the interior of the drainage channel is relatively inaccessible once the grate has been placed across the trench. Due, at least in part to this inaccessibility, the alignment and installation of each fixture can be relatively laborious and time consuming. Thus, the process of securing a grate to a relatively long drainage channel generally requires a number of grate attaching fixtures and can require a significant amount of time. In addition, these fixtures for securing a grate to a drainage channel must be secured under a proper tension. Otherwise, the grate can gradually loosen as a variety of compressive forces are repeatedly applied thereto, typically by the passage of vehicles or the like across the grate. In turn, relative motion or rocking can thereafter occur between the grate and the drainage channel.